Metering and dispensing device for viscous liquids



J. E. HAZARD April 9, 1968 METERING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FOR VISCOUSLIQUIDS Filed Feb. 2, 1967- INVENTOR JAMES E. HAZARD ATTORNE? UnitedStates Patent Ofi ice METERING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FOR VISCOUS LIQUIDSJames E. Hazard, Swarthmore, Pa., assignor to Scott Paper Company,Delaware County, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 2, 1967,Ser. No. 613,521 8 Claims. (Cl. 222-263) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE -Adevice for separating predetermined amounts of viscous liquids from asupply reservoir and for transferring them to a remote point forapplication to a surface. The device includes a specially designedhousing having an opening sealed by flexible lips through which a tonguemember may be moved after separating a predetermined amount of viscousliquid from the reservoir. Alternative arrangements are disclosed forfacilitating transfer of the separated viscous liquid to a surface suchas that of a moving paper web. The shape of the tongue member can bealtered to apply adhesive in a variety of patterns such as intermittentor wavy lines. Uses include tail tying in web winding.

Background the invention (1) Field 07 the in vention.-This inventionrelates to a liquid metering and dispensing device and, moreparticularly, to a new and improved device for separating predeterminedor metered amounts of relatively viscous liquid from a supply reservoirand for transmitting them to a remote point for application to asurface.

(2) Description of the prior art.-In the past, there has been a problemin many industries of applying measured amounts of relatively viscousliquid to a surface. For example, this function is a critical part ofmany processes in the fiberboard container making and packaging artwhere a liquid such as glue is to be applied to a surface in a measuredamount and at a predetermined time and area. It is often desirable toregularly dispense and apply measured amount of other liquids such aslubricants or relatively viscous oils, to a surface.

For purposes of this invention, the term viscous liquid has been used todesignate, and is intended to encompass,

all relatively viscous liquids including glues, cements, ad-

hesives, mixtures of glutinous substances, lubricants, heavy oils, etc.In other words, as become evident from the following description, theapparatus of the invention can be employed to dispense predeterminedamounts of any relatively viscous liquids and to transfer such amounts'to a remote position. The viscosity of the liquids used can varydepending on the speed of operation of the apparatus as employed. Theyshould generally be more viscous than Water and should demonstrate sometemporary tendency to resist fiow or change in shape or arrangement.

Different devices have been conceived which employ a variety of means toseparate measured amounts of viscous liquids such as glue from a supplyreservoir'and apply them to a surface. For example, one method employedhas been that of separating a measured amount of glue from a supply andimpinging it against a surface.

'One means for doing this operates as a glue gun and in- 'volves theapplication of a blast of compressed air to an amount of glue disposedwithin a feedout tube from a glue reservoir.

Although some control can be achieved in this method, it is desired inmost casesto more accurately determine the amount of a viscous liquidapplied. It is also desired :to more accurately control the area ofapplication of the packaging,

measured amount of viscous liquid. This becomes important and difficultto accomplish with prior art devices, especially where the surface towhich the viscous liquid is to be applied is that of a rapidly movingweb and where precise timing becomes a significant factor. Operation ofprior art devices presents even greater problems as the speed ofmanufacturing equipment increases and the period of time for measuringamounts of a viscous liquid and transferring them to a surface isdecreased.

The present invention represents an improvement in several respects overthe device disclosed in US. Patent 3,289,898, issued Dec. 6, 1966 to W.H. Herman. The variety of patterns possible with the device of thepresent invention is much greater. Moreover, leakage'around the back ofthe tongue member, which often occurs after prolonged operation of theHerman device is avoided in the device of the present invention.

A particular area in which devices such as the above have been employedand in which the above problems have become important is that of thepaper industry with regard to transferring adhesive to a moving web ofpaper coming from a parent roll of paper or from a paper manufacturingmachine for the purpose of attaching the tail end of a predeterminedlength of paper to the roll upon which the predetermined length has beenwound. This process is often referred to as tail tying. In thisinstance, it has been found advantageous to apply adhesive or glue in acontinuous or intermittent line transversely across a rapidly movingpaper web adjacent to or with reference to high rate of speed, that is,where the velocity of the paper web is 1200 feet per minute and higher,and on a socalled continuous basis. Some of the previous methodsemployed to apply adhesive to the moving web in tail tying processesinvolved glue guns and moving brushes. These are no longer satisfactoryor reliable for high speed winding and new means have become necessaryto increase the speed of application and to improve the accuracy of theamount of adhesive applied as Well as the area within which it isapplied,

If excessive adhesive'is applied to a roll for such a purpose, some ofit tends to be thrown off the rapidly rotating wound product roll due tocentrifugal force. In addition, the excessive adhesive tends to permeateseveral layers of the paper product on the wound roll and createsdifficulty to a user in locating a loose end and starting the roll tounwind for use. Similar problems are caused by application of adhesiveto overly large areas of the wound roll. If insufficient adhesive isapplied, the tail end of the web will be loose or come loose duringsubsequent resulting in fouling of the wrapping machinery and anunsightly appearance of the product. Similar problems result frominaccurate placement of the measured amount of adhesive.

Summary of the invention It is a principal object and advantage of thepresent invention to provide a viscous liquid metering and dispensingdevice which is capable of accurately separating metered amounts ofviscous liquid from a supply reservoir and transferring these measuredamounts to a remote point for application to thesurface of an articlesuch as a rapidly moving web.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a viscous liquidmetering and dispensing device adapted to apply predetermined amounts ofviscous liquid across a relatively wide, rapidly moving paperweb in apredetermined pattern of continuous or intermittent areas.

The invention provides a housing having two converging walls andspaced'side walls defining a chamber for containing a supply of aviscous liquid such as adhesive or glue. The converging walls arearranged to intersect along a line of intersection of the plane of oneconverging wall with the plane of the other converging wall at an angleof less than about 150. Each of the converging walls have a gate portionadjacent the line of intersection. The gate portions adjoin each otheralong the line of intersection and are disposed in sealing engagementwith one another in a closed position but are movable out of contactwith one another upon application of force in order to permit theseparation and removal of a predetermined amount of viscous liquid fromthe chamber.

A tongue member is disposed within the chamber between the convergingwalls. The surface of the bottom edge of the tongue member issubstantially parallel to the line of intersection between theconverging walls and extends between the spaced side walls of thehousing. At least a portion of this surface is in a plane angularlydisposed to the planes of the converging walls. The tongue member isarranged for movement so that the bottom edge surface is reciprocablymovable from a first position wherein the surface is disposed within thechamber, spaced from, and out of contact with, the converging walls,through a second position wherein the boundries of the surface are incontact with the converging walls thereby defining a cavity whichcontains a metered amount of viscous liquid, to a third position whereinthe surface is disposed outside of the chamber upon deflection of thegate portions and carries thereon the metered amount of viscous liquid.Actuation means are operably connected to the tongue member to provide ameans for reciprocally withdrawing the tongue member toward and awayfrom the line of intersection of the converging walls.

In some embodiments, where it is desired to apply a viscous liquid in.an intermittent line, the tongue member has a bottom edge surfacecomprising a plurality of spaced-apart areas of greater width connectedto one another by areas of lesser or negligible width. It will becomeapparent that a large variety of patterns can be arranged with this typeof device so long as the gate portions of the converging walls aresufficiently flexible to sealingly engage opposed surfaces of the tonguemember as it passes between them. It has been found possible to depositflexible adhesive on a surface in an arcuate or wavy line utilizing thisprincipal but with a tongue member having a bottom surface of differentconfiguration.

In order to apply the metered amounts of viscous liquid to a surfacesuch as that of a moving web, the entire viscous liquid metering anddispensing device may be advanced by an actuation means so that thebottom edge surface of the tongue member contacts a moving web at thedesired moment. In this manner, the measured amount of viscous liquid istransferred and the web receives an application of a metered amount ofviscous liquid on the desired portions or areas. Another method oftransferring the amounts of viscous liquid involves an associatedtransfer means such as the transfer bar which may be convenientlycarried upon the surface of a rotatably mounted cylinder. Once thedesired amount of viscous liquid is separated from the parent supplywithin the chamber and exposed upon the bottom edge surface of thetongue member outside of the housing, the transfer bar is advanced byrotation of its carrying cylinder into interference with the bottom edgesurface so as to remove the predetermined amount of viscous liquid fromthe surface and carry it upon the transfer bar. Upon further rotation ofthe carrying cylinder at the desired time, the transfer bar is arrangedto contact a surface such as that of amoving web so as to transfer theviscous liquid to the web at the desired point.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of preferredembodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings describedbelow.

brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of aviscous liquid metering and dispensing device of the invention,

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 are partial sectional views taken along line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1, and progressively illustrate the manner of operation of thedevice of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 5 and 6 are bottom views of alternative embodiments of thedevice shown in FIGURE 1, arranged to transfer predetermined amounts ofviscous liquid in intermittent and wavy lines, respectively,

FIGURE 7 is a schematic sectional view of a metering and dispensingdevice and associated transfer means for transferring a measured amountof viscous liquid to a moving web, and

FIGURE 8 is a schematic sectional view of a metering and dispensingdevice movable by an associated actuation means into contact with amoving web.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to FIGURES 1through 4 of the drawings, there is shown a housing, indicated generallyby reference numeral 1t which includes two converging walls 11 and 12,respectively. Converging walls 11 and 12 are arranged to intersect alonga line of intersection of the plane of converging wall 11 with the planeof converging wall 12 at an angle of about 60. Two spaced side walls 13connect with converging walls 11 and 12 to define a chamber 14 withinwhich a viscous liquid is retained. The angle of intersection of theplanes conveying walls 11 and 12 may be varied within wide limits todefine a chamber of different dimensions and difierent configuration.The maximum practical angle of intersection has been found to be about150. Beyond this amount the chamber is so shallow as to occupy too muchspace. More preferred embodiments employ a narrowed chamber formed by alesser angle of intersection.

Converging walls 11 and 12 have flexible portions 15a and 15b adjacentthe line of intersection between their planes. Portions 15a and 15bserve as gate portions or members to sealingly close off the bottom ofthe chamber 14. Portions 15a and 15b adjoin each other along the line ofintersection and are disposed in sealing engagement with one anotherwhen in a closed position but are adapted for movement out of contactwith one another upon application of force as a result of theirflexibility. The portions or strips 15a and 15b may be comprised of anytype of flexible resilient material such as rubber which may be bentfrom one side or another out of the plane of their respective convergingwall 11 and 12 upon the application of force. Portions or strips 15a and1511 are sealingly attached to converging walls 11 and 12 by a series ofbolts 16. The ends of flexible portions 15a and 15b sealingly abut andengage the inside surface of each of the spaced side walls 13.

A tongue member 17 is disposed within the chamber 14 defined by thehousin 10 and is mounted for reciprocal movement in a plane passingthrough the line of intersection between converging walls 11 and 12 andlying between converging walls 11 and 12. In this manner, its bottomsurface 18 will be advanced toward and away from the line ofintersection of the converging walls 11 and 12. The bottom edge surface18 lies in a plane parallel to the line of intersection described above.In addition, the plane of bottom edge surface 18 is angularly disposedto the planes of converging walls 11 and 12. The periphery of bottomedge surface 18 terminates directly at lines of contact with convergingwalls 11 and 12 and side walls 13.

The action of tongue member 17 is controlled by a valve 19 which governsthe operation of a double action air cylinder 20. The piston 21 of aircylinder 20 is operably'co'nnected to the end of tongue member 17opposite bottom edge surface 18. Valve 19 connects air line 22 to aircylinder 20 through feed lines 23 and 24, alternatively. In otherembodiments, the operation of valve 19 may be performed by hand or maybe controlled by connecting it with the operation of other equipmentsuch as a web handling machine or a continuous winding machine forrolled paper products in a manner which is well known and understood inthe art and employed with like equipment. Obviously, other types ofactuation means could be employed.

In some instances, it is desired to dispense, with a device of thistype, metered amounts of an adhesive which is relatively fast-drying orwhich contains relatively volatile ingredients and, therefore, issusceptible to damage or deterioration upon prolonged exposure to air.It is also desired in some instances to continuously circulate gluethrough a heating means in order to maintain it at the desired viscosityfor metering and application. As shown in FIGURE 1, a viscous liquidsuch as glue may be circulated through the chamber 14 within housingmeans by means of feeding it into chamber 14 through one or more inlets25 on housing means 10 and withdrawing it from chamber 14 through one ormore outlets (not shown) on the opposite end of housin means 10. A

heater (not shown) and/or a pump (not shown) may precede inlet 25 and bearranged to circulate glue from a remote supply reservoir (not shown)through the housing means 10 in a continuous manner thereby insuring atall times a fresh supply of adhesive having the desired properties. Thehousing means 10 may be fitted with a lid (not shown) which sealinglycovers the top portion thereof and is in frictional contact with themoving tongue member 17.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 progressively illustrate the manner in which theviscous liquid metering and dispensing device of FIGURE 1 operates todispense a predetermined amount of viscous liquid. In the light of theabove- .described structure, it can be seen that when the double actionair cylinder 20 is actuated to reciprocably move tongue member 17 alongits plane intermediate the planes of converging walls 11 and 12, thebottom edge surface 18 will be reciprocably moved from a first positionwithin the chamber 14 spaced from and out of contact with con- .vergingwalls 11 and 12, as shown in FIGURE 2, through a second position whereinthe peripheral edge bounding the surface 18 is in contact withconverging walls 11 and 12 and, more specifically, the flexible portions15a and 15b extending along and comprising the sides of the housing 10in that area, as shown in FIGURE 3. In this position, a reservoir orcavity 26 is defined by outline of the converging walls 11 and 12, sidewalls 13, and the bottom edge surface 18 such that a metered amount ofviscous liquid having a predetermined volume is separated and containedtherein.

As operative movement of tongue member 17 concorrespondingreciprocation, bottom edge surface 18 is moved to-a third positionwherein it is disposed outside of chamber 14 after theperipheral edgecontacting the flexible portions 15a and 15b has exerted suflicientpressure upon the flexible portions to bend and deflect them downwardlyand out of sealing contact with one another as shown in FIGURE 4. Inthis position, the bottom edge surface 18 contains a predeterminedmetered amount of viscous liquid which is basically that portion of theviscous liquid contained within the supply reservoir or cavity 26 whichwas separated and defined by the portions of the converging walls 11 and12, the bottom edge surface 18, and the side walls 13.

An advantageous feature of the inevntion is that the amount of viscousliquid separated in the manner described above can be easily controlledin an accurate manner. The principal manner of varying the amountresides in varying the thickness of tongue member 17 which 6 results ina larger cross-sectional area for cavity 26. Alternatively, and perhapseven more expeditiously, the angle of the bottom edge surface 18 may bevaried relative to converging walls 11 and 12 to change the volume of'aresulting cavity 26 formed during operation.

The device of the invention differs in many important respects from thatdisclosed in US. Patent 3,289,898. As alluded to above, by disposing thetongue member 17 in a plane which intersects the planes of convergingwalls 11 and 12, it is possible for portions of converging walls 11 and12 to have wiping contact with'the opposed faces of tongue member 17 asit moves outwardly from chamber 14. This prevents the leakage oftenexperienced in the device disclosed in the earlier patent afterprolonged operation. Such leakage :across the device is extremelyharmful to paper products being wound into rolls since it resultsin-adhesive dripping on the paper web at undesired times. It alsoresults in excessive amounts of adhesive being applied which causes manyplies to be bonded together and ultimately wasted.

Another important advantage of the device of the invention is thevariety of shapes and patterns of adhesive application which can beaccomplished. This is made possible by simple and convenient structuralmodification of the tongue member 17. The lower end of member 17 may beshaped in a variety of ways as by scalloping or bending to formintermittent, wavy or arcuate lines of different configuration. Thismethod of controlling the configuration and pattern of the adhesive ismade possible by the use of the two flexible portions, 15a and 15brespectively, to engage opposite sides of a contoured tongue member.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate modified forms of the invention and arebottom views of forms of the device shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURE 5illustrates one alternative configuration of the bottom portion oftongue mem-- ber 17 which enables it to separate an intermittent line.of viscous liquid from the chamber 14. The bottom edge surface has aplurality of spaced-apart areas of greater width connected to oneanother by areas of negligible width which do not contain any adhesivewhen they emerge from the chamber 14. By smoothly contouring the tonguemember 17 in the transitional areas between the areas of greater widthand the areas of negligible width, the tongue member can be sealinglywiped by the flexible portions 15a and 151) as the tongue member emergesfrom the chamber 14 to form an effective seal. FIGURE 6 illustratesanother alternative embodiment of the tongue wipingcontact by theflexible portions 15a and 15b enables sealing contact to be maintainedwith the tongue member as it emerges from chamber 14.

From the above, it can be seen that the apparatus described in severalembodiments accomplishes separation of a metered amount of viscousliquid from a supply .of viscous liquid contained within a supplyreservoir and transfers it to a remote position for application or use.FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate two alternative methods for handling themetering amount of viscous liquid after its separation from the parentsupply in order that it may be transferred to the surface of a workpiece such as glue to one surface of a moving paper web.

FIGURE 7 contemplates employing with the viscous liquid metering anddispensing device a separate transfer means which in the embodimentshown comprises a rotatably mounted cylinder 33 positioned between thebottom edge surface 18 of a tongue member 17 of a metering device andthe surface of a moving paper web 34 which represents the surface of awork piece to which viscous liquid is to be applied. Web 34 is supportedin partial wrapping engagement with the surface of a rotatably mountedsupported roll 35. Cylinder 33 has a protuberance 35 extending outwardlyfrom its surface which protuberance extends longitudinally from one endof roll 33 to the other. The relationship of transfer roll 33 is suchthat, upon rotation, protuberance 36 is moved past a position ofinterference with the outwardly extending bottom surface 18 of tonguemember 17 of the metering and dispensing device. Upon contact, theprotuberance serves as a transfer bar and wipes the metered amount ofviscous liquid from the bottom edge surface 18. Upon further rotation,the transfer bar or protuberance 36 contacts the preselected portion ofthe surface of moving web 36 and applies or transfers a metered amountof viscous liquid to the web. It can be seen that the movement andtiming of contact of the web by transfer bar 36 may be controlled in amanner whereby it bears some relationship to movement of the web oranother work piece, as is understood by those skilled in the art.

FIGURE 8 illustrates another embodiment of apparatus involving themetering and dispensing device shown in FIGURE 1 for transferring themeasured amount of viscous liquid contained on bottom edge surface 18 toa desired surface. As shown in FIGURE 8, an actuation means such asdouble action air cylinder 38 is attached to converging wall 11 of thehousing 10 of a metering and dispensing device and is arranged toadvance and withdraw the entire metering and dispensing device to aposition where the bottom edge surface 18 of an outwardly extendingtongue member 17 containing a metered amount of viscous liquid thereuponwould contact a desired surface such as the surface of a moving paperweb 34 at a predetermined time. In a manner similar to that employed inFIGURE 6, a moving paper web 34 could be supported in partial wrappingengagement-with a rotatably mounted support roll 35. A valve 39 isarranged to control the operation of double action 'air cylinder 38 bymeans of air from line 40 fed through line 41 or line 42. Air cylinder38 would advance and withdraw the bottom edge surface 18 into contactwith the surface of the moving web 34 at a predetermined time therebyaccomplishing viscous liquid transfer.

What is claimed is:

1. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device which comprises:

a housing having two converging walls and defining a chamber forcontaining a supply of viscous liquid, said converging walls beingarranged to intersect along a line of intersection of the plane of oneconverging wall with the plane of the other converging wall at an angleof less than about 150, each of said converging walls having a gateportion adjacent said line of intersection, said gate portions adjoiningeach other along said line of intersection and disposed in sealingengagement with one another when in a closed position but adapted formovement out of contact with one another,

a tongue member disposed within said chamber between said convergingwalls, said tongue member having a bottom edge surface substantiallyparallel to said line of intersection, at least a portion of whichsurface is in a plane angularly disposed to the planes of saidconverging walls, said tongue member being arranged for movement so thatsaid bottom edge surface is reciprocally movable from a first positionwherein said surface is disposed within said chamber and spaced from andout of contact with said converging walls, through a second positionwherein the boundaries of said surface are in contact with saidconverging walls thereby defining a cavity which contains a meteredamount of viscous liquid, to a third position wherein said surface isdisposed outside of said chamber upon deflection of said gate portionsand carries thereupon said metered amount of viscous liquid,

and actuation means operably connected to said tongue member.

2. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1wherein said housing include an inlet and an outlet and means tocirculate viscous liquid through said chamber.

3. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1,wherein said tongue member is operably connected through said actuationmeans to an automatic web handling machine for movement into and out ofsaid cavity at predetermined intervals.

4. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1,wherein said bottom edge surface comprises a plurality of spaced-apartareas of greater width connected to one another by areas of lesserwidth.

5. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1,wherein said bottom edge surface has a substantially contant width butextends in its plane along an arcuate path.

6. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1,including viscous liquid transfer means co-operable with said movabletongue member and adapted to remove said metered amount of said viscousliquid from said bottom surface when said surface is disposed outside ofsaid chamber and to transfer it to a remote position.

7. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 6,wherein said viscous liquid transfer means comprises a resilienttransfer bar mounted for movement into interference and wipingengagement with said bottom edge surface and to a position remote fromsaid bottom edge surface.

8. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1,including housing actuation means operably connected to said housing andadapted to reciprocally advance and withdraw said housing and,correspondingly, said bottom edge surface toward and away from a remoteposition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,645,383 7/1953 Miller 222-3802,792,856 5/1957 Coppage 222380 X 3,217,944 11/1965 Bell et a1. 222-409X 3,225,963 12/ 1965 Arpajian 222--409 X 3,289,898 12/1966 Herman222-263 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

